First record of Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana for Ghana

a

Hume's Leaf Warbler P Aumei, which has never
been recorded in Africa (Urban et al 1997, Snow
& Perrins 1998). The observers are also familiar
with Greenish Warbler P trochiloides, Arctic
Warbler P borealis and Pallas’s Warbler P proregu-
lus. This observation, with photographic substan-
tiation (the videograbs permit positive identifica-
tion but are of insufficient quality to reproduce
here), constitutes the first record of Yellow-browed
Warbler in The Gambia.

Yellow-browed Warbler breeds at high and
middle latitudes of the Palearctic in Siberia, with
the main wintering grounds in south-east Asia
(Cramp 1992). In recent decades it has occurred
increasingly in Europe, with exceptional numbers
in autumn 2003 (van den Berg 2003, 2004). In
October 2005, 1,250 were recorded in Britain
(Golley 2005). It is a rare vagrant to North Africa
and the first documented observation in sub-
Saharan Africa was made on 6 December 2003 in
northern Senegal (Cruse 2004).

Acknowledgements

Tony Armstrong, Neil Marshall, John Rayner, Doug
Smith and Fred Wake observed the bird and submit-
ted a full description. I thank them for the courtesy
of this and for responding to further queries. Modou

Colley accompanied the group. Tony & Carol
Spencer kindly supplied video footage.

References

van den Berg, A. B. 2003. WP reports. Dutch Birding
25: 400-421.

van den Berg, A. B. 2004. WP reports. Durch Birding
26: 56-68.

Cramp, S. (ed.) 1992. The Birds of the Western
Palearctic. Vol. 6. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cruse, R. 2005. Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus
inornatus in Senegal in December 2003. Bull. ABC
122147146.

Gantlett, S. 2006. The Western Palearctic year. Birding
World 19: 21-40.

Golley, M. 2005. The birding review of 2005. Birding
World 18: 505-516.

Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (eds.) 1998. The Birds of
the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

Urban, E. K., Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) 1997. The
Birds of Africa. Vol. 5. London, UK: Academic

Press.

Birds of The Gambia, POB 279, Banjul, The Gambia.
E-mail: clivebarlow@gambianet.gm

Received 6 March 2006; revision accepted 28 May
2006.

First record of Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana for Ghana
Steve M. Lister

Première mention du Bruant ortolan Emberiza hortulana pour le Ghana. Un mâle adulte du
Bruant ortolan Emberiza hortulana a été observé et enregistré sur magnétoscope au Parc National
de Mole, Ghana, le 23 mars 2006. Ceci constitue la premiére donnée documentée pour le pays.

n 23 March 2006, an adult male Ortolan

Bunting Emberiza hortulana was observed in
Mole National Park, Ghana, by seven members of
a Rockjumper Birding Tours group. The bird was
perched atop a small thorn tree below the small
escarpment immediately in front of the lodge, at
c.80-90 m from the observers, permitting excel-
lent unobstructed views through telescopes. It
remained there for c.5 minutes, from 17.05 to
17.10 hrs, and was video-taped. It was not seen
again during our two-day stay at Mole.

Description

Typical bunting shape, similar in size to a
Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting £. tahapisi seen
a few minutes earlier and clearly larger than Pin-
tailed Whydahs Vidua macroura perched nearby.
The head was grey with a slight blue tone, except
for a pale yellow moustachial stripe and throat.
The bill was pale pink and there was an obvious
pale yellow eye-ring. The blue-grey colour of the
head extended to the breast as a broad curving
band, clearly demarcated from the dull chestnut-
orange of the rest of the underparts. The chestnut

I I

First record of Yellow-browed Warbler for The Gambia : Barlow

Bull ABC Vol 14 No 1 (2007) - 75

upperparts and wings were streaked black. There
were two pale wingbars formed by the tips of the
coverts, that on the greater coverts being more
obvious. No calls were heard.

Ortolan Bunting has not been recorded in
Ghana previously, nor has it been observed in
neighbouring countries (Grimes 1987, Borrow &
Demey 2004, Fry & Keith 2004). In West Africa
the species is a rare to uncommon and local
Palearctic visitor, which winters mainly in upland
Guinea and northern Sierra Leone and, less com-
monly, in north-central Nigeria (Borrow &

Demey 2004, Fry & Keith 2004).

Acknowledgements

I thank Richard White, who first noticed the bird
and drew our attention to it, Adrian Hayward, who
made video grabs available, and the referees and edi-
tors, who improved the draft of this note.

We apettalize i in tailor-
We are ground operato

References

Borrow, N. & Demey, R. 2001. Birds of Western Africa.
London, UK: Christopher Helm.

Borrow, N. & Demey, R. 2004. Field Guide to the Birds
of Western Africa. London, UK: Christopher Helm.

Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) 2004. The Birds of Africa.
Vol. 7. London, UK: Christopher Helm.

Grimes, L. G. 1987. The Birds of Ghana: An Annotated
Check-list. BOU Check-list No. 9. London, UK:
British Ornithologists’ Union.

6 Albert Promenade, Loughborough, Leics. LEI] IRE,
UK.

Received 18 June 2006; revision accepted 23 November
2006.

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76 - Bull ABC Vol 14 No 1 (2007) First record of Ortolan Bunting for Ghana: Lister